2016 Land, Water & Local Government Conference

The 2016 KNRC Land, Water & Local-Government Conference was held on Wednesday, April 13 and Thursday, April 14, 2016 at the United Wireless Arena & Conference Center next to the Boot Hill Casino & Resort in Dodge City, Kansas.

Speakers from across the country, such as attorney Jonathan Wood of the Pacific Legal Foundation, Harriet Hageman managing partner of Hageman Law, P.C., Martha Boneta, subject of the documentary “Farming in Fear,” Mark Herr, President and Co-Founder of the Center for Self Governance, Rancher and Agriculture Advocate Kimmi Lewis, Commissioner & attorney Tracy Hunt,  Angus McIntosh Director of Natural Resource Law & Policy Research at Land and Water USA Foundation and Chief of Watershed Planning Tom Stiles of Kansas Department of Health and Environment presented a wealth of information.

The Keynote was delivered by Tom Van Flein, Chief-of-Staff for U.S. Representative Paul Gosar, a can-do litigator who came to Capital Hill in 2011. Having been adviser and personal attorney to Sarah Palin, Mr. Van Flein is a fixer, advocate and a team-oriented political strategist who believes in “hard work, loyalty, discretion, good judgment and honest advice.”

The conference and panel discussion was moderated by KNRC Executive Director Jim Carlson.

Topics included the USFWS Utah Prairie Dog litigation and its relevance to interstate commerce; the status of EPA’s Waters of the US Rule and litigatory challenges; a national perspective on conservation easements; a module on international food-chain sustainability and its relevance to the Agricultural sector; presentations on civics, the constitution and local government, and a panel discussion.

The full program brochure for the 2016 KNRC Land, Water & Local Government Conference can be found here.